Ramadan Kareem to all.

Student Leadership

We are committed here at BISC to developing future leaders. Last week’s high profile events really honed in on this mission and provided ample opportunities for students to explore many leadership related questions: What is leadership? How do we develop leadership skills? And how can young people have a positive impact in our community and beyond?

BISC MUN XI

BISC students led and organised an impressive MUN conference last weekend, on the theme of ‘Journey to Justice’. They demonstrated excellent leadership skills in the lead up to the conference and throughout. There was such a positive and thriving atmosphere, and our guests benefitted from the very best of BISC. Our student leaders represented the School so very well and we are all very proud of their achievement and the success of this conference. Very well done to all involved. I was particularly impressed by our younger students, who held admin roles in each committee; they were simply fantastic.

BSME Pupil Leadership Conference

BISC hosted the BSME Pupil Leadership Conference on Thursday 7th March. This year’s theme, ‘Inclusion’, again mirrored our priorities and values. Our pupils were perfect hosts and the event was a huge success. I am particularly proud and grateful to the planning committee who hosted our guests and planned a hugely successful event. They worked diligently and tirelessly - very well done.

The planning committee included: Zeina El N (Y12), Haya K (Y12), Fatma B (Y12), Noureldeen E (Y12), Hannah El G (Y12), Yassine W (Y12), Hussain G (Y12), Karim El H (Y12), Ahmed M (Y6), Maryam O (Y6), Farid El T (Y6), Rasheed A (Y6), Hassan K El-D (Y6), Sophia M (Y6), Nadya T (Y6), Yusef S (Y6), Pearl B (Y6), Mansour El S (Y5), John G (Y5), Khadija El N (Y5), Malak El D (Y5), Leah El E (Y5), Nazli (Y6), Karima (Y6) and Ovidiu (Y5).

Key Dates Ahead

BISCMUN XI

Last weekend, BISC hosted the eleventh annual session of BISCMUN with over 220 delegates from various schools across Cairo such as CAC, AIS and Al-Alsson. 

The theme of BISCMUN XI this year was ‘Journey to Justice’. Students engaged in meaningful debate in eight committees about topics related to the reformation of the United Nations, the resolution of current conflicts, the environment, education and health. 

BISCMUN XI was a great success as students benefitted from high quality debate while engaging in various activities such as music performances in the opening and closing ceremonies, entertaining a United Nations official from the UNRWA as well as donating and writing cards to Palestinian children as a tribute to Palestine. More photos here.

U13 Football Tournament

Last weekend, BISC teams made a strong showing at the BSME Egypt U13 Football Tournament.

The girls’ team were a dominant force, showcasing their skills and teamwork to secure a well-deserved first-place finish! Their dedication and talent truly shone throughout the tournament.

The boys’ team demonstrated impressive teamwork and resilience. Coming together as a new team, they battled hard in every game, fostering a strong sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship.

Congratulations to all players, and supporters, on a successful tournament! BISC is proud of your hard work and sportsmanship.

E-Sports House Competition 

The E-sports House Competition is in full swing and it has been a huge success so far! The competition has been intense, with students from different Houses and year groups showcasing their skills on the virtual pitch. The tournament has not only been a great opportunity for students to showcase their gaming abilities, but it has also allowed them to bond and build positive relationships with each other. The friendly competition has brought students together in a fun and engaging way, fostering a sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship among all participants. Next week, we will find out which House is victorious. Keep up the great work, gamers!

IB Visual Arts Exhibition 

On Wednesday 20th March, Year 13 Visual Arts students have the pleasure of inviting you to the IB Arts Exhibition. It will open at 14:30 and run until 17:30, and will be held in the IB building. We look forward to seeing you there!

Year 7 - Laila A for being an amazing role model and taking part in the PLC, MUN and school musical.

Year 8 - Yuetong L for all his hard work in the school musical, having 100% attendance and working so hard in his lessons.

Year 9 - Chloe L for being a model student at MUN and always putting 100% into everything she does.

Key Stage 4:

This week, we would like to celebrate the achievements of all KS4 students who were a part of the school production. They all did a fantastic job on stage and have inspired the whole school community. Well done, Maya in Year 10, and Mansour, Mathilda, Mariam and Youssef in Year 11.

Key Stage 5:

Year 12 - Nataly ES, Valery ES, Youssef EH, Qingmoa A, Adam S and Cyrine G.

Year 13 - Khadiga E, Shahd R, Yassin ES,  Youssef S, Hamza K and Noah K.

Year 13 Revision and Support Sessions

As we enter a crucial phase of the academic year, we would like to remind everyone of BISC's intervention sessions and targeted mentoring opportunities, available to students across the academic spectrum.

We are providing:

• Regular Mentoring Sessions target specific students, but all Year 13 students can also opt into the mentoring programme. 
• After-School Support Sessions; subject-specific sessions, offered to all and particularly targeting students who have achieved lower than expected grades in specific subjects.
• Workshops on effective study skills, time management, exam preparation techniques, and stress management to help students develop essential academic skills.
• Peer tutoring programmes where high-achieving Year 13 students can mentor and support their peers in subjects where they excel.

Please find below the schedule for the After-School Support Sessions provided for Year 13 students: 

Year 11 Revision and Support Sessions

Whilst we understand that Ramadan is a busy and important time for students, we are equally conscious that students need support to maximise their opportunity to succeed in upcoming exams. We are, therefore, offering a programme of After-School Support Sessions, from Monday 11th March, to support students in their exam preparation. 

The weekly programme is outlined below:

In the final few weeks before examinations begin, these sessions are a very good opportunity for Year 11 students to speak to subject specialists and ask any questions they may have about the subject or to discuss revision resources. We hope they can attend these sessions and gain any support they need. 

In addition to the weekly sessions, we will also be offering the following Saturday sessions:

To enable staff to plan and resource these sessions, students who intend to attend any session, during the week or on a Saturday, should complete the following Google Form (using their BISC account) as soon as possible:

https://forms.gle/Qnwfxky8uJJC8DKY8 

Please note that transport is not available to or from these sessions (including those after school).

Readers of the Week 

Laila A has achieved incredible results with her reading this term. Despite being in last week’s brilliant production, and attending various other extracurricular activities, she still managed to read The Secret Garden and three other books to achieve her reading target with fantastic quiz results. 

Ahmed G missed the cut off for last week’s Reader of the Week by a few minutes! He completed the target with excellent quiz scores.

As the second Year 7 and 8 reading target period has just ended, it is time to celebrate some amazing reading achievements.

Linda has read well over 2 million words through 28 books. She has become a bit of a reading celebrity around the school, using her extensive knowledge of our library to help others find books to enjoy!

Maryam, Maria and Charlie have all read over half a million words and between them have read stories from every genre you can imagine. 

Omar G has read 1.5m words through 22 books. But this is not the big picture, Omar also reads books that do not have Accelerated Reader quizzes, so his true word count total will forever remain a mystery.

Laila M and Nouri have both read over half a million words each. Well done to both.

Whenever anyone asks for help to understand a word, Mohamed B always gets in first with the correct definition. Mohamed’s vocabulary is excellent, in line with his consistently great reading record over the past two years. 

Although Accelerated Reader quizzes are available for thousands of books, there are some books which are either brand new, or very advanced, meaning that quizzes have not been made for those titles. Malak A has helped to add several quizzes to our collection this year, by reading a range of advanced material and creating quizzes which have been uploaded to our quiz site. 

The following students have scored 100% on reading quizzes over the past week:

Year 7

Ann A, Maria A, Laila A, Mohamed B, Masa D, Nayla E, Malak E, Lamar F, Ahmed G, Tamara H, Ali H, Ahmed K, Mohamed M, Ahmed M, Ali M, Sara M, Natalie R, Ghalia W, Ismail W x2, Malek Z

Year 8

Omar A, Lana A, Sereen B, Yassin E, Hossam E, Loulwa E, Yassine G, Lara G x2, Siwar K, Danya N, Ali S, Stanislava D, Ali A, Mohamed G, Yassine H, Ali W

Upcoming Events

It has been a quiet and peaceful start to Ramadan in the Junior School.

Ramadan Lanterns

Pupils in Class 5S have been getting into the Ramadan spirit, by making a 'fanoos' to decorate their homes.

ASAs for Term 3

Thank you for your support in our Term 2 ASA Programme. Please review below the brochure for Term 3 ASAs, which will begin on Monday 22nd April. The Parent Portal for making your choices will open next Wednesday 20th March at 16:00.

Sporting Achievements

Congratulations to Fady in Year 3 who won his first competition with the Egyptian Tennis Federation last month.

Well done to Layla in Year 4 who won a gold medal at Cairo Gymnastics Competition last week. 

Upcoming Events

Foundation Stage One

FS1 children have been busy learning about animals from each continent. The children made non-fiction animal books to end our 'Around the World' topic.

Foundation Stage Two

The children in FS2 have been learning about the holy month of Ramadan.

They were keen to share their experiences and learn from each other. We talked about sunrise, sunset and special family meals. The children enjoyed making cards and lanterns.

Keeping our students safe online is a priority at BISC. We are happy to share advice from the National Online Safety, to enable parents to understand the pros and cons of various social media, games and digital trends.

This week, we are sharing advice on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter.